The 'Barry and Bill' show raises $2 million

Bill Clinton and Barack Obama stood on the same podium together at a backyard fundraiser that brought in $2 million to the president's campaign war chest.Clinton bravely tried to put a prom dress on a pig, praising Obama for having done "a good job."

A white-haired and svelte Clinton, 65, pounded the podium and pointed at the crowd while addressing about 500 Obama supporters outside the Virginia home of his friend and Democratic adviser Terry McAuliffe.

"I think he's done a good job," he told the crowd in his signature raspy voice, warmly introducing the man who beat his wife, Hillary Clinton, to win the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and then made her secretary of state. "We are going the right direction under President Obama's leadership."

Clinton's support could be pivotal for Obama's efforts to raise money and to sell voters on his economic plans, which Republicans have denounced as fiscally reckless and rooted in populism instead of good business sense.

Clinton oversaw one of the most prosperous times in recent American history and managed to balance the federal budget, something Democrats are keen to remind voters before the November 6 election.

When he took the backyard podium, Obama, 50, noted Clinton's "remarkable" economic record in his two White House terms and referred frequently to the political powerhouse standing behind him, who stands to be a huge fundraising force in the final months of the presidential campaign.

"I didn't run for president simply to get back to where we were in 2007. I didn't run for president simply to restore the status quo before the financial crisis. I ran for president because we had lost our way since Bill Clinton was done being president," Obama said.

The state of the economy is expected to be the pivotal issue for voters in November.

With unemployment still relatively high and growth showing signs of slowing, Obama is under pressure to defend his string of big budget deficits and prove the soundness of his proposals to keep spending on infrastructure, clean energy and education and to raise taxes on the very rich.

There are few politicians on either side who can shake the money tree like Bill Clinton. While Obama's fundraising numbers have been good, they have not been matching his haul from 2008. Expect Clinton to join the president several times in the next few months for high profile, high dollar events.

Tea leaf readers might be tempted to see something significant relating to Clinton's wife Hillary in this alliance -a deal on the vice presidency, perhaps? Don't bother. Getting rid of Biden to sex up the ticket would be seen as, if not an act of desperation, certainly a cry for help by Obama. Besides, Hillary wants the top spot and, if she is in reasonably good health in 2016, she will go for it.

Right now, it serves the purposes of both men that they join forces. Obama wants the cash and Bill wants the love and adoration. It's a marriage made, if not in heaven, then whatever the political equivalent would be.

Bill Clinton and Barack Obama stood on the same podium together at a backyard fundraiser that brought in $2 million to the president's campaign war chest.

Clinton bravely tried to put a prom dress on a pig, praising Obama for having done "a good job."

A white-haired and svelte Clinton, 65, pounded the podium and pointed at the crowd while addressing about 500 Obama supporters outside the Virginia home of his friend and Democratic adviser Terry McAuliffe.

"I think he's done a good job," he told the crowd in his signature raspy voice, warmly introducing the man who beat his wife, Hillary Clinton, to win the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and then made her secretary of state. "We are going the right direction under President Obama's leadership."

Clinton's support could be pivotal for Obama's efforts to raise money and to sell voters on his economic plans, which Republicans have denounced as fiscally reckless and rooted in populism instead of good business sense.

Clinton oversaw one of the most prosperous times in recent American history and managed to balance the federal budget, something Democrats are keen to remind voters before the November 6 election.

When he took the backyard podium, Obama, 50, noted Clinton's "remarkable" economic record in his two White House terms and referred frequently to the political powerhouse standing behind him, who stands to be a huge fundraising force in the final months of the presidential campaign.

"I didn't run for president simply to get back to where we were in 2007. I didn't run for president simply to restore the status quo before the financial crisis. I ran for president because we had lost our way since Bill Clinton was done being president," Obama said.

The state of the economy is expected to be the pivotal issue for voters in November.

With unemployment still relatively high and growth showing signs of slowing, Obama is under pressure to defend his string of big budget deficits and prove the soundness of his proposals to keep spending on infrastructure, clean energy and education and to raise taxes on the very rich.

There are few politicians on either side who can shake the money tree like Bill Clinton. While Obama's fundraising numbers have been good, they have not been matching his haul from 2008. Expect Clinton to join the president several times in the next few months for high profile, high dollar events.

Tea leaf readers might be tempted to see something significant relating to Clinton's wife Hillary in this alliance -a deal on the vice presidency, perhaps? Don't bother. Getting rid of Biden to sex up the ticket would be seen as, if not an act of desperation, certainly a cry for help by Obama. Besides, Hillary wants the top spot and, if she is in reasonably good health in 2016, she will go for it.

Right now, it serves the purposes of both men that they join forces. Obama wants the cash and Bill wants the love and adoration. It's a marriage made, if not in heaven, then whatever the political equivalent would be.